Grocery Greetings
by Becausethat'sthething
Summary: When Bella Swan goes grocery shopping, she gets a few surprises. A blind date set up by Charlie, some people-watching, and a handsome man who looks nervous enough to pee himself. Calls are made, messages are sent, and friendships are formed. Oneshot. AH.


**Hi, everyone. I wrote this in a matter of hours, so it's not real great. I didn't spend too much time editing, either, and I realize the plot is kind of jumpy and doesn't exactly always make sense. But I got this idea a few days ago and thought it would make a cute story. So…enjoy. Or don't. Your choice. **

I was walking into the local grocery store when my cell phone rang for the first time in a week. I really had no idea why I had one. I looked at the screen, which was flashing "Charlie Calling." I flipped it open and put it up to my ear, using my shoulder to hold it up and grabbing a cart. I tripped over my feet and stumbled a bit.

"Dad?"

I could hear the smile in Charlie's voice when he answered. "Hey, sweetheart, how have you been?"

To say I was thoroughly confused was an understatement. Charlie hardly ever called just to check up on me, so this surprise call was the result of one of two things: a) there was a family emergency that needed attending, or b) my dad had an agenda he didn't plan on sharing with me. I could safely assume it was the latter.

"Err, fine, Dad. Everything okay?" I asked tentatively, pushing my cart first towards the produce section.

Dad laughed a little too heartily. "I can't just call my daughter for no reason?" he tried to joke.

_No, _I answered silently. "Sure you can."

"Great." There was silence for all of two seconds. "So, Bells, I was talking to Billy Black the other day-my friend from up on the reservation, you know."

I nodded before realizing he couldn't see. "Yep," I said, mentally smacking myself on the forehead.

Billy Black was Charlie's best friend. I found myself thinking back to when I was a little girl, spending my summers with Dad and playing with Billy's eldest daughter, Rachel, while the men went out fishing. I smiled and dumped a bag of apples into my cart.

"He was telling me, Bells, that his son was planning on visiting this weekend. You remember his son, Jacob, Bells?"

"Yep."

"He's coming to visit this weekend," he repeated.

"I heard ya."

"Oh. Well, you two used to be great friends, remember? I was thinking maybe it would be nice for you to catch up."

I rolled my eyes. "Dad, Jacob Black put mud in my hair and ran over my dolls with his monster trucks."

"Aw, c'mon, Bells!"

"Dad, seriously? What is this, pre-school reunion?" I threw some more greens in my cart and moved onto the refrigerated aisle.

"Exactly! Bella, it's perfect."

"Dad, what do you want from me? To reunite with my childhood best friend and fall madly in love with him and get married?"

There was silence on the other end of the line. I groaned. "_Dad!" _

"Bells, I'm just worried for you, you never get too close to anyone and I don't want you to be lonely. I thought it was an awkward teenager stage, but you're in _college _now!"

"I'm an independent woman, Charlie, you know that. I get it from my dad." I shivered as I stuck my hand into the refrigerator and grabbed two gallons of milk. I zoned out while Charlie rambled on about Jacob, something about him being "real good for you, Bells, I think," and how he was now a mature young man who "mostly definitely does not play with monster trucks anymore." He went on and on about his best friend's son as I people-watched.

From somewhere behind me I heard a sweet voice say, "Come on, Edward, you better stop staring and hurry up! Esme'll kill us if we don't get everything on this stupid list!"

To my right was what I assumed was a couple, a hefty-looking man with dark curly hair holding a bag of apples in front of a beautiful blonde, saying, "How 'bout them apples?" There was no response from the blonde. "Get it, Rose, that's an old saying, but I'm literally talking about apples!" He chuckled childishly.

The blonde rolled her eyes, "I got it, and it wasn't funny, Emmett." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Keep trying, stud."

I giggled, chucking more things into my cart. I heard Charlie clear his throat. "Bella Marie Swan, are you even listening to me?"

I scoffed. "You know I'm not. I don't want my dad to set me up on a blind date! It's gross; it's like arranged marriage all over again. I am _not _going to show just because of Jacob." A shopper in front of me turned around and chuckled at me, giving a sympathetic smile. His honey-gold hair went a bit past his ears; he was handsome.

I rolled my eyes dramatically and mouthed, "_Parents," _at him, which he laughed loudly at.

"Bella," Dad whined.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"For your old man?"

"Nice try, but no dice."

"Bella!"

"Dad!" I countered.

Neither of us said anything for a minute. Somehow I ran into a display of cereal boxes, knocking a few over and one landing on my head. "Ouch," I muttered, rubbing the spot disdainfully.

"Fall down again, Bella?" Charlie asked, trying to contain his laughter. I shook my head sadly, trying to put the boxes back in their original positions.

"I'm going to hang up on you, Charlie."

"Bet you won't," was all he said. I smirked, pulling the phone away from my ear and flipping it shut. "Bye, Daddy," I said sweetly to the device, shoving it in my bag. The honey-blonde chuckled again.

"Hey, it's not always so bad," he said, grinning. "My mom introduced me to her doctor's daughter 5 years ago, and now we're engaged." I raised an eyebrow. "Alice and me, of course. I'm not engaged to my mother."

I laughed. "Good to know." I held out my hand to shake. "Bella Swan."

He shook it firmly, smiling. "Jasper Whitlock, ma'am," he replied, the slightest Southern twang itching into his voice.

"It was nice to meet you, Jasper," I told him genuinely, "But I've got to get back to shopping." He nodded understandingly but held a finger up at me, reaching into his pocket with his other hand. He passed me a fancy-looking cell phone.

"Put your number in. Alice would just love you." I blushed and answered a short, "Sure." I keyed my number in and held it back out to him. He took it gratefully and walked away once we'd said our goodbyes again.

I went back to shopping, just grabbing whatever I thought I would need and throwing it into my ever-increasing pile of groceries in the cart. Slowly but surely, the cart increased in weight, making it more difficult to control. I went back to people-watching. My cell phone rang shrilly again. I snapped it open without looking at the screen.

"I'm not going to date Jacob Black!" I exclaimed, slapping the palm of my hand on my cart angrily.

I heard a giggle. "Good choice, Bella." Crap.

"Hey, Angela! How have you been?" Angela had been one of my closest friends in high school, a quiet but smart girl who wasn't affected by the woes of teenage drama.

Angela giggled again. "All right, Bells, and you? I miss you!"

As soon as we had graduated, Angela had sped off to NYU with her boyfriend, Ben Cheney. I was positive he was going to pop the question very, very soon.

"Not bad myself. Grocery shopping, actually. Dorm's out of crappy junk food." I realized that crappy junk food was exactly what I needed, so I headed to Aisle 13. I picked some Doritoes, some chocolate chip cookies, and a pack of EasyMac microwavable macaroni.

"What a nightmare," she empathized dryly. I agreed with her. "So what's this about Jacob Black? I remember him. He was gorgeous."

I shrugged. "Sure. But he got tire marks on Dolly's face."

Angela was quiet before she burst into giggles. "You…are so…immature!" she choked out.

"Whatever. So Dad wants to set me up with him, like he's some kind of Cupid assigned to my case by God."

"Well…Charlie always was a little out there."

"Shut your yap, Ange, and tell me why you called." I mentally debated Ritz Crackers versus Wheat Thins and decided on the Ritz.

"BEN PROPOSED!" she screeched.

I laughed. "Maybe _I'm _the matchmaker from Heaven."

"Bells, you rock so much, you know it's all thanks to you. I would have never even talked to Ben if you didn't make me." I shrugged.

"'S nothing."

"It's so something! So you're going to be my maid of honor! We're coming back to Forks to get married next summer, isn't that great?"

I smiled. "Fantastic, Angela. Congratulations." I could only imagine Angela's face, beautiful and beaming-the blushing bride.

"Thanks! Well, Ben just got here, I've got to go, Bells. Sorry it was so short!"

"No problem, Ange. Tell Ben I said hi. We'll talk later; you've got to tell me exactly how he proposed, you know." Angela agreed, laughing, and we ended the conversation.

I pushed my cart around happily, not really paying attention to what I threw in. I found myself listening into people's conversations again.

The same sweet voice from before was chirping somewhat angrily now. "Emmett, get your butt over here and help me with these potatoes. Edward, _we need SODA!" _There were two consecutive sighs.

I smiled at the woman's demands-she sounded a lot like me.

To my left was a woman in her late thirties with two small children, one maybe seven and her little brother perhaps four. "Leah, Seth, please stop lollygagging." The woman's children were shoving each other into the aisle, walking slowly and giggling.

"I'll show you lollygagging," the little girl-Leah-muttered rebelliously.

"Leah Clearwater!" the mother reprimanded.

Seth giggled. "Oh, sissy's gonna get it when we get home!" he crooned. Leah punched him in the stomach. "Mommy, sissy punched me!"

The woman sighed exasperatedly. "Next time you're staying home with Harry. Both of you."

"But Dad can't feed us like you can. He messed up my cereal, Mom. Who messes up cereal?" Leah was cute, but she had a big attitude-something her mother pointed out.

"Your father can manage the kitchen just fine. Leah, I will not deal with your sass any longer. Get your attitude in check or no video games for a month." Leah said nothing, but stuck her tongue out at her mother's back when she wasn't looking.

I winked at the kids when they looked my way. Seth giggled and waved and Leah stuck her tongue at me, too.

I focused on my shopping, then, realizing how much of a creep I was being, listening in to strangers' conversations. Worried about the fact that Charlie hadn't called back yet, I picked up my phone and dialed. He picked up after two rings.

"I'm really sorry, Dad," I said, not letting him say anything, "but I really don't want you to set me up with Jacob Black."

A deep chuckle answered my request. "I'll make sure to tell Jake."

_Again? _"Billy!"

"Hi, Bella," Billy Black said, still laughing at my confession. "How are you, darling?"

I smiled, remembering how much I'd missed Billy, who was like an uncle to me. "Good, Billy. Real good."

A far away voice yelled, "Who is it, Billy?" I assumed Billy and Charlie were both back at Charlie's house, a) watching football, b) drinking beer, c) gossiping about their children, or d) all of the above.

I chose answer D.

"It's my mistress from Port Angeles," Billy yelled back in all seriousness. This was the Uncle Billy I remembered.

I heard Charlie laugh noisily. "Tell Bells I'll call her during half-time. And hurry up with the beers!" he yelled.

"You heard the chief, Bells. We'll talk, okay?"

I grinned. "Later, Tiger."

"Farewell, my lover!"

I laughed obnoxiously as I crammed my phone back into the pocket of my jeans. It was getting seriously difficult to push the cart now. I was heading to the check-out lanes when my phone buzzed. I groaned and pulled it out.

_One new message from: Jessica Stanley_

_bella, lauren & i wnt u 2 make brwnies. will u buy da stuff u need plz?_

_xoxo_

_Jess_

"Gah!" I muttered, wheeling my cart back around. "Hey, Bella, will you buy me some chocolate? Sure, Jessica! Hey, Bella, will you go to the pharmacy and get me some tampons? Sure thing, Lauren, I'll even pay for them myself! Hey, Bella, will you go jump off a cliff? Sure, girls, anything for my least favorite roommates in the world!" The bitterness in my nonsensical ramblings was painfully evident.

"Hey, Bella-"

I whirled around. "No! You can do it yourself!" Jasper Whitlock's blue eyes blinked. "Oh, crap, Jasper, I'm so sorry!" I pleaded. "I'm just a little wound up, my roommates suck and my dad's being annoying."

Jasper smiled reassuringly. "No problem, Bella. I just wanted you to meet Alice." I noticed the small woman latched to Jasper's side. Alice was short and beautiful, with pixie-like features and spiky black hair.

She was smiling largely when she said, "Oh, Bella! You're so pretty; no wonder Edward's been staring at you since we got here!" I blushed, recognizing the sweet voice for the third time.

"_Come on, Edward, you better stop staring and hurry up!"_

"It's nice to meet you, Alice," I murmured, suddenly conscious of my less-than-satisfactory image. "Your fiancé likes to laugh at my expense." Jasper laughed. "See?"

Alice giggled. "Oh, don't mind Jaz. I think he's just trying to get us all to calm down." I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "My adoptive mother, Esme, is hosting this huge Thanksgiving lunch and we all want it to be perfect. We've been running around here all morning."

"You and Emmett and Edward?" I asked, not realizing how creepy it was that I knew the names.

She nodded, confused. "And Rose and Jasper."

"I suppose you know the Clearwaters as well," I quipped sarcastically, rolling my eyes. The happy couple stared at me and shook their heads. "I've been people-watching. I hear names."

Jasper grinned. "Only you, Bella."

"And you would know that how?"

"I just do."

"You'll be a great addition to our family!" Alice piped up, her eyes gleaming. She took two steps forward and enveloped me in a hug. I hugged her back and patted her head.

"Thanks, Alice. It means a lot to me."

Jasper cleared his throat. "We've got to keep shopping, Al. We'll see you around, Bella?" I nodded, and Jasper called Alice's name. She didn't let go, which made me snicker. "Alice." No response. "Alice. _Alice. Alice!" _I was laughing out loud now, and Alice was squeezing my waist like a life line. I hugged her back just as hard.

"Alice, I think you have to go now."

"But I love you, Bella!" Usually that would be creepy, but I found it adorable and completely mutual. "Bella, don't make me go with the mean old man," she whispered loudly. Jasper crossed his arms and glared.

I shrugged as much as I could with my new extension. "Sorry, Jaz. She's all mine now."

"MARY ALICE BRANDON-CULLEN!" a voice bellowed. "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU, YOU DUMB LITTLE PIXIE! YOU MADE ME CARRY THAT BIG OL' SACK OF POTATOES EVERYWHERE AND NOW I FIND YOU IN THE ARMS OF A COMPLETE STRANGER! JASPER, YOU ARE THE WORST FUTURE BROTHER-IN-LAW EVER! WE HAVE TO SHOP!"

I froze. Alice let go of me and pounced on the buff, curly-haired man from before. Emmett, I assumed. She attached herself to his back and starting smacking the back of his head repeatedly.

"You dumb brother! I just made a new best friend!"

Emmett blinked his brown eyes. "Who's this pretty lady?" he asked, looking at me and winking. She smacked him on the head again.

"She's my new best friend and you're my brother who is seriously dating my old best friend!"

"Hi, Alice's new best friend! I'm Emmett!" With Alice still on his back, he skipped towards me. "I know I'm intimidating and all that, but I'm really just a snuggly teddy bear! Wanna see?" And he grabbed me in a tight hug, squeezing my insides out.

"Emm…ett…can't…breathe!" I wheezed out, slapping his muscled chest. Emmett giggled and let go.

"I like you, kid."

"I like you, too, Emmett."

"Emmett, Alice, we really need some cranberry sauce. And to finish shopping. Let's go!" The three of them hugged me simultaneously and left me to myself. I shook my head, smirking, and set off to find the ingredients for brownies.

Then my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Bella Swan?" It was a male voice, definitely, but not one I recognized.

"Err, yes. May I ask who this is?"

"Hi, Bella. I know it's been a while, but, uh, I'm Jacob Black, Billy's kid. Remember me? At all?" I didn't respond. "Bella? Can you hear me?"

"I hear you, Jacob."

"Oh, ok. Good." More silence. "Bella?"

"How did you get my number, Jacob?"

"Well, you see…"

I groaned. "It was Charlie, wasn't it?" Silence. "Dang it, Jake, I'm going to have to call you back." I ended the call before he could respond and dialed the same number from before.

"Bella?"

"Crap, Dad, can't you let me do my own thing? I told you I did _not _want to talk to Jacob Black and you went and gave him my cell phone number? Who even _does _that, Dad? What's going through your head?" I had stopped moving now, save for my right foot tapping angrily and my left hand running through my hair.

"Bells, seriously, there's no need to overreact!"

"No, Charlie, that was complete and utter disrespect! It was totally unfair to me and to him! I. Do. NOT. Want. Jacob. Black."

Charlie was angry now. "Isabella Marie Swan, you watch your tongue. I may not be the boss of you anymore but I am your father."

"Why would I respect you if you don't respect me?" I growled.

"This isn't a matter of disrespect, Bella!" he yelled at me.

"The crap it ain't, Charlie!"

I heard a small voice whisper, "Bella?" I held a pointer finger up to Emmett, telling him I'd get back to him when I was done yelling at my father.

"Bella!" Charlie admonished.

"What?" I snarled.

"Is it really that horrendous to even ponder _meeting _Jacob Black?" he asked crossly. I could only imagine the look on his face. Charlie and I hardly ever fought, but when we did, it was bad.

"This isn't even about me dating Jacob Black anymore!"

"Then what's this about, Bella? Me caring too much? Your dad wanting you to be happy? Well, crap, Bella, if you wanted me to back off you coulda just said it!"

"I DID!"

"Charlie, give me the phone," I heard Billy say in the background. Angry tears were spilling out of my eyes. Charlie gave him a crisp no, but when Billy persisted I felt him hand over the phone.

"Bella?" Billy asked tentatively.

"What is it, Bill? Going to convince me to go for your son?" I queried meanly, stomping my feet.

"You said it yourself, Bells, this isn't about Jake anymore." I sighed, my steam blowing out. "Bella, I love you. Charlie loves you more than life itself. He's just looking out for you, you know."

I huffed indignantly. "I don't care. He doesn't need to."

"He thinks he does, Bella. You remind me of my wife. Hanna was headstrong, independent. But even she needed some help sometimes. She needed someone to depend on, since so much of the people she cared about were dependent on her. Now, I'm not saying that someone is my son. Actually, I seriously doubt that that someone is my son, quite honestly. But I'm saying that your father and I just want you to be happy. And we're trying our best to find out how to do that." The tears were no longer angry ones.

"Billy," I whispered. I turned around and saw that Emmett was still there, looking concerned. I wrapped one of my arms around his middle and nestled my head into his chest. He hugged me back willingly, rubbing my back and whispering comforting things into my ear.

"Now, Bella, are you ready to talk to your father?" Billy asked calmly. I could hear the smile in his voice. I paused, thinking.

"No." I mentally saw Billy's smile turn into a frown. "Can you please ask him to call me in half an hour?"

"Sure, I can, Bells. Take care."

"I love you, Uncle Billy."

"I love you, darling."

I flipped the phone shut and hugged Emmett properly. "Sorry, Emmett," I blubbered into his sweater. "I'm not trying to cry, you know. I haven't cried in a long time, but I hate fighting with Dad, I really do."

Emmett continued rubbing my back. "It's okay, babe. You're just a human. Everybody's gotta cry once in a while."

"How 'bout you, Em? When was the last time you cried?" I countered, angry at myself for showing weakness.

"I'm a vampire, Bella. I don't even have tear ducts," he joked. I laughed softly, which I think was the point of his bad joke. I sniffed once and wiped my eyes. "C'mon, Bells, cheer up. Everything'll be okay, I promise."

I smiled a little. "Thanks, Emmett." I pulled back from his arms and he let go.

"Sure thing, Bella. Now, what are you still doing here? I thought you were leaving."

I laughed. Emmett really knew how to cheer a girl up. "My dumb roommates want me to make them brownies."

Emmett gave me a look, his eyebrows scrunching up and his head tilted to the right. "Screw them," he finally said. "Go home."

I shook my head. "Why'd you come to talk to me, anyway?" I asked him. He grinned hugely.

"Well, Alice and I just got off the phone with our _beautiful _adopted mother who is officially filled in on how frikkin awesome you are, so you are now ceremoniously invited to the Cullen Annual Thanksgiving Lunch! It's going to be so great!" I was about to interrupt when his eyes zeroed in on something or someone behind me and he shouted, "Rosie, baby, come here!" I turned and saw the beautiful woman from before, the one who hadn't laughed at Emmett's bad apple pun.

I smiled at her. She returned the smile. "You're Bella." I nodded. "Alice won't shut up about you, Emmett won't leave you alone, and Eddie Boy's been stalking you for the past hour." She jerked a thumb behind her, where an incredibly handsome man with bronze hair and pale, muscled forearms was alone. I blushed. He stood awkwardly, hands in his pockets, his eyes flicking towards me every twenty seconds. I tried smiling at him, but I think I just drooled. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and scuffed his sneaker-clad feet on the floor.

"He, uh, he what?" I stuttered, running my hand through my hair nervously. Rosalie giggled and waggled her fingers at Edward, signaling him to come over. His eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, pointing at the produce section.

Emmett laughed boisterously. "Just wait 'till he finds out you're coming to lunch tomorrow. I've never seen him so nervous." Rosalie nodded.

"Are you guys still shopping? Or are you leaving?" I asked.

Rosalie shook her head. "Esme gave us a _really _long list."

"Oh. Well, I've got to go get some brownie ingredients. I'll talk to you guys later?" We exchanged numbers, and, once more, I parted ways with new friends.

Right on time, my phone buzzed again. I looked at the message.

_One new message from: Tyler Crowley_

_Hi there Bella. Just wondering if you were doing anything tonight. ;)_

_-Ty_

I shivered and flipped the phone shut, choosing not to respond. Tyler Crowley was the student teacher in my Psych class, and he'd been creeping on me since our first lesson. I made my way into aisle 15 and started gathering all the things I would need for brownies. My phone rang.

_Charlie Calling._

I took a deep breath and flipped the phone open and put it up to me ear. "Hi, Charlie," I murmured, fingering the button on my sweater.

"Hi, Bella."

"I'm real sorry," we both said.

"No, Dad, I overreacted."

"I shouldn't have gone against your wishes."

I pushed the cart forward, willing this conversation to end. "I love you, Dad." There was no response. Dad and I had never been very emotional; it wasn't something we said as much as we should.

Finally he said, "I love you, too, Bellsie. You know I'm just watching out for you."

I nodded. "I know, but you don't have to. I can look after myself. I'm not a teenager anymore. Now, Dad, I'm still grocery shopping and I'm seriously afraid that you're going to make me run into something or someone."

"Wait, Bells, I want to talk to you about this."

"Dad, can't we do this later?"

Dad laughed nervously. "You know we can't." He was right. We would both end up chickening out later. "Bella, I love you more than anyone else in the world. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Dad, of course I know that, but I really need both hands to push the cart." Gah. This definitely could not end well. "And I love you, too."

"And maybe you don't need a guy to make you happy," he rambled on, "but I want you to try. You've never really put yourself out there."

"You're one to talk about happy endings, Dad," I said, referring to his failed marriage with my mother, Renee.

"Yeah, but Renee got over it and look how happy she is with Phil. You've got to get hurt some time to be happy." Ouch.

"Dad-I'm going to kill someone with this cart, I swear-" _THUMP! _I dropped the phone as the cart collided into something in front of me. I swore loudly.

"Ooofff, oh, dear Lord," a velvety voice moaned. Running forward to help my victim I stepped on a button on my phone.

"_Bella? BELLA, what did you do?" _Charlie was on speaker phone. I didn't want to worry him so I yelled in the direction of the phone.

"Nothing, Dad!"

"_Oh, ok, then I'm going to keep going." _It was Edward, the incredibly handsome one from before. He was staring at me, getting to his feet and rubbing his shoulder. _"Bella, I really need you to understand where I'm coming from-" _

"Dad, hold on!" I looked at Edward and his pain-stricken face. This whole thing was so horrendous. "Crap, Edward, I am so, so, so, _so _sorry! I didn't see you and I was distracted by my dad and-crap, are you okay?"

Edward gave me a pained smile. "I'm fine, it's okay. It's my fault; I was tying my laces and didn't bother looking up."

"_Bella, you're independent, I know that, but you're always alone and I haven't seen you genuinely happy in a long, long time. You're a beautiful young woman and any man would be lucky to have you. You've just got to open up and let people in, Bells." _I stared at the phone in horror.

"Dad-"

"_No, Bella, let me talk! I'm really sorry about before and I hate arguing about you but I'm doing it for you! I don't want you to end up like me, always watching football and drinking beer. You know I actually contemplated getting a cat?" _I groaned.

"Dad, _please _shut up." I tripped over my feet trying to get to the phone. I couldn't reach the stupid thing; it had slid under the cart when I stepped on it.

"_I'm not letting my only daughter become an old cat lady like me!" _Charlie all but screamed. I winced.

"Okay, Dad, I got it, but I just ran over someone with my cart and I really have to make sure he's okay!" I looked over at Edward, hoping he wasn't totally repulsed by me, and saw that he was grinning now, but still holding his shoulder.

Charlie paused. _"Does he look anything like Jacob Black?" _

My fingers wrapped around the cell phone. "GoodBYE, Dad!"

I cut the call and stared at Edward. "I am so sorry about-well, nearly killing you and then you having to listen to my crazy old man." I took a step toward him-and tripped over my shoelace. I practically tackled him, and we both went tumbling to the floor. I landed on top of him, both of our breaths leaving in a fast huff.

He was so close. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. We were both panting. "He's right," Edward finally said, looking me in the eyes.

Bright green met murky brown and I realized I would take this stranger over Jacob Black any day.

"Wha-?"

"Your father. You're beautiful, you know. It'd be a shame for you to become a cat lady." I blinked. "I'm not kidding."

I couldn't respond to that. "Is your shoulder okay?"

He nodded. "It'll bruise, but it's nothing I can't handle."

I looked at the sleeve of his t-shirt. "May I?" He nodded wordlessly. Terribly aware of the fact that Edward had freakin' _biceps, _I lifted his sleeve up above his shoulder. There was a huge, bright red mark the size of my fist. "Crap, Edward," I hissed. "I killed you."

Edward chuckled. "Kiss it better?" he joked, lifting one eyebrow suggestively. I grinned before pressing my lips to his arm, which was so smooth and hard I thought I might collapse. I looked up at Edward when he let out a hiss. His eyes were shut and his fists were clenched.

"Uh, sorry."

"You're Bella." Second time today.

"You're Edward." He nodded. "Your family has been stalking me all day. Are Alice and Emmett your siblings?" He nodded. "So when's Em proposing to Rose?"

This question surprised him. "Tomorrow after lunch. How'd you know?"

I shrugged. "I just did." Edward smiled at me and stood up. He held out a hand to help me. I took it gratefully, ignoring the strong zap that traveled through my fingers and up my arm.

"I'm Edward Cullen."

"Bella Swan."

"Would you like to come for lunch tomorrow?"

"Emmett beat you to it," I said, snickering.

"BELLY! EDDIE!"

"Speak of the devil," Edward said bitterly.

"Hi, Emmett." I hugged him. Emmett hugged me back.

"I see you and Edward have met," he said. "Have you two kissed yet?" Edward and I stared at him. I blushed. "No? C'mon, Eddie, we all know you want to!"

I gaped, and Edward glared. Alice pranced up to us. "Oooh, getting your smooch on, brother?" she asked Edward. Edward flicked her off and stalked away. "Touchy," she giggled. I rolled my eyes and chased after Edward. I grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward me.

"Edward," I muttered, staring at his feet.

"Bella," he answered, and I could tell he was watching my face. I slowly looked up at him and was attacked by his gaze. "Bella," he whispered again, and he used his index finger to pull my chin up. He was close, so close, and he was getting closer, and my eyes were closing, and-

"BELLA! CHARLIE'S CALLING YOU!"

"You can pick it up, Alice," I said, not bothering to look her way. "Would you mind terribly, Edward, if I crashed your Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow?"

Edward grinned at me. "What time should I pick you up?"

"BELLA, CHARLIE WANTED ME TO REMIND YOU THAT HE HAS A GUN AND WHICHEVER GUY YOU JUST ATTACKED BETTER BE BELLA-WORTHY!"

_FIN. _

**Soooo, that's it. I'm going to go eat some brownies now. **


End file.
